Getting fiction work published has always been an uphill climb. There's a lot of competition, and in the days of traditional publishing, hundreds of submissions may have resulted in one published novel. It's easier today; the rise of e-books and on-demand publishing has opened a lot of doors to a lot of new writers, and companies like Amazon have made it possible for a writer to publish their own work; of course, that mixes in a fair amount of chaff with the wheat, as too many books are dropped in there without any editing and, frankly, in some cases, without any talent.
It has been orders of magnitude harder, in recent years, to get any conservative-leaning fiction published. There are some whose stature as writers drove them through their conservative or libertarian politics; writers like Orson Scott Card and, of course, the immortal Robert Heinlein. But for new writers breaking into the fiction world, publishing fiction that tells stories with a conservative bent can be challenging. And yet it's important that we do this; as the late, great Andrew Breitbart pointed out, politics is downstream from culture, and that means we have to start influencing the culture.
But, it's still not easy, especially for a conservative writer. Over at Issues & Insights, a guest column by Armando Simón spells out some of those difficulties.
When Abigail Shrier wrote a book critical of the transgender mania among girls, Amazon took out the ads for the book. The American Booksellers Association sent Shrier’s book to booksellers, and some recipients had their tender feelings hurt in receiving copies, whereupon the ABA issued a statement: “This is a serious, violent incident that goes against ABA’s ends policies, values, and everything we believe and support. It is inexcusable.” Note the word “violent” simply for offering a book for sale. “Violent!” This is an accusation that is often hurled at anyone for saying or writing anything liberal fanatics hate to see or hear that contradicts their ideology in any manner: that speaking or writing anything that disagrees with their dogma is an act of “violence.” Such people should really buy a dictionary. They might learn something.
Are the odds stacked against us? It would seem that way, especially where Amazon is concerned. Amazon is the 800-pound gorilla in the room, after all; a strong plurality, if not a majority, of American book sales go through Amazon, which we might remember started out as an online bookstore. My wife's publishing company sells a majority of its books through Amazon. And if Amazon decides they are going to yank your feet out from under you, that's a problem.
There's a problem with editing, too.
Publishers nowadays arbitrarily change the wording in books to be more in line with woke ideology without the authors’ approval. The children’s Goosebumps series, published by Scholastic, is one example. Likewise, the late British author Enid Blyton, has had her works made more palatable to the woke mob. Ian Fleming’s books have also been bowdlerized. Roal Dhal famously told his publishers not to change a single comma in his books; now that he is dead, the thought police has changed more than just a comma. To obtain the originals of the above works, one now has to rummage for old copies, that is, those that have not been thrown into a bonfire. But the lesson here is that when an author is dead, he is helpless to protect his creations.
So what's a conservative author to do? Well, there are people who are publishing conservative fiction, and while there are challenges, those can be overcome. Some conservative authors are offering some great fiction work, including my Townhall colleagues Kurt Schlichter and Larry O'Connor. There are others, including science-fiction author Taylor Anderson, of the Destroyermen series. And, of course, there's me. There are more; the world of conservative fiction isn't as bleak as all that.
But it's the publishing hurdle that's troublesome. There are publishing houses out there willing to take on conservative fiction, like my wife's company, Crimson Dragon Publishing. She has traditionally published kids' books with a conservative slant. But this new world of publishing calls on the authors to do more than write; we are called upon to promote, as well. Having an already-in-place pulpit helps, but it can be done; through social media, through personal appearances, through podcasts; it's not easy, it's not like the old days, but it can be done. I'm reminded of an old saying: Some will say it's rude to blow your own horn, but ain't nobody gonna blow it for you.
And, we could argue, it has to be done. We should encourage the conservative fiction writers. A strong plurality of American voters identify as conservative. That's a big market. And, to any aspiring authors, I would offer Robert Heinlein's advice for publishing success: Write and submit, write and submit, write and submit. Submit to those small publishers willing to take on and promote conservative fiction. Publish directly through Amazon or through any of the print-on-demand publishers. We should be flooding the market with conservative fiction, and if companies like Amazon try to throttle back our efforts, we should go all George Patton on them and roll right on over their barricades. And keep a sharp eye on the editors!
Andrew Breitbart was right. Politics is downstream from culture. So, while we fight the political fights of our time, we have to fight for the culture, as well. Conservative fiction is one way we can do that. It's not easy and it's not always fair, but as with so many other facets of our current time, it's a fight we cannot flinch away from.
